From foodconsumer.org
Vitamin E supplements cut heart risk in diabetics
By Ben Wasserman
Oct 28, 2007 - 7:16:50 PM
SUNDAY October 28, 2007 (Foodconsumer.org) -- People with type 2 diabetes may want to start taking some vitamin E each day as a new study has just found that daily supplementation of this vitamin could improve some biomarkers indicating the risk of heart disease.
The Italian study published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases found the levels of the vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and the intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) improved during the period of vitamin E supplementation.
In the study of 37 type 2 diabetics, researchers noticed a decrease in the level of a protein linked to higher risk of atherosclerosis and further cardiovascular disease after taking 500 International units of vitamin E daily for 10 weeks.
In diabetes patients, an increased production of plasminogen activator type 1 or PAI-1 as well as the vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and the intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) was linked to decreased fibrinolysis, which increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The researchers found at the end of study, PAI-1 levels decreased by 32 percent and returned to the baseline level after 20 weeks of no supplementation of vitamin E.
Likewise, VCAM-1 and ICAM levels decrease by 12 and 19 percent respectively after 10 week supplementation of the vitamin.
On the other hand, production of nitric oxide (NO), a compound making it easier for the blood to flow and leading to an decrease in blood pressure, increased by 50 percent after the supplementation.
More research is needed as this study was small and no controls were used.
Source:
Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases (Elsevier)
Published on-line ahead of print, doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2007.01.002
"A study on the action of vitamin E supplementation on plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and platelet nitric oxide production in type 2 diabetic patients"
A. Vignini, L. Nanetti, C. Moroni, R. Testa, C. Sirolla, M. Marra, S. Manfrini, D. Fumelli, F. Marcheselli, L. Mazzanti and R.A. Rabini